The new Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery has posted the first part of a 2-part interview with me speaking about marijuana on college campuses. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I’ve launched an iPrevention™ VYou site. It’s a new format for online interaction. Visitors can ask anonymous questions, and I’ll record a video response. I haven’t a clue whether this format will take off, but it seems like a great tool for disseminating research findings to a broader audience. Feel free to visit and post a question.

It was an honor to have been asked to present at the Royal Society of Arts in October for a joint program with BBC Radio 4. The talk was before a live audience, but the radio show did not air until this week. The topic was our use of YouTube videos for research on Salvia divinorum. A podcast version and an edited print versions are now available.

There is little doubt in my mind that should prop 19 pass, there will be a substantial change in the role of marijuana in our society. That said, within some parts of our culture the shift may have happened a while ago. Perhaps this Halloween costume is just one sign of the times. The irony it employs is deft, and clearly there is no harm in a costume, but it reflects an understanding that the current medical exemption is, for many, a joke allowing for recreational use already. I mean, since when is a doctor who treats terminally ill cancer patients the life of a party. Again, Gorman and Huber's (2007) assertion that linking marijuana to sick people would deter use is looking more and more off the mark. Neither the model in the Dr. Herb costume nor his female nurse "Medical Mary Jane" costume look sick to me, nor do I expect that their friends would shy away from being treated.

My guess is this story is but the beginning of what will be a flood of stories on how Proposition 19 will affect colleges. It appears to be a well balanced, and thoughtful exploration of the issue. It’s going to be an interesting month.